News
Thailand news, politics, business, crime, lifestyle, and tourism—stay updated with breaking news and in-depth analysis from Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Pattaya, and beyond. The Thaiger delivers the latest national news that matters.
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Phuket Airport possible base for US military support
PHUKET: Thailand may allow the United States to use either Phuket Airport or U-Tapao in Rayong as a base for planes assigned to monitor the movement of migrants stranded in surrounding seas. “The Foreign Ministry is reviewing the request,” Supreme Commander General Worapong Sa-nganet said on Tuesday. Thailand is setting up the Operations Centre for Patrol and Humanitarian Assistance to…
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Illegal Thai tour guides busted in Phuket
PHUKET: Three illegal Thai tour guides were arrested in front of their tour groups in Phuket yesterday. Thanachai Sae-yang, 29, was the first of the three swept up in the raid as he lead a group of Chinese tourists through the Kathu Temple grounds. Though Mr Thanachai is a registered tour guide – he was working outside of Chachoengsao Province,…
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Suit up for the SEA games
PHUKET: Thanyapura’s top swimming stars are hoping to bring home a bounty of medals when they dive into the pool and compete at the Southeast Asian Games (SEA) next week. Swimming sensations Peerapat ‘Garfield’ Loessathapornsuk, 18, Patarawadee ‘Ploy’ Kittiya, 21, Kornkanjana ‘Golf’ Sapianchai, 17, and Tanakrit ‘Nok’ Kittiya, 19, will come up against the best in the region at the…
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Video Report: Navy flotilla floats humanitarian mission for Rohingya
PHUKET: The Royal Thai Navy unveiled a patrolling navy fleet in the Andaman on Tuesday that was given the mission of ‘helping on’ Rohingya and Bengali migrants by providing medical services and translators, as well as food and water supplies. “More than 600 officers have been assigned to this mission, which will be running seven boats, two airplanes and two…
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Phuket officials investigate tour companies with foreign shareholders
PHUKET: Officials launched an island-wide inspection of tour companies with foreign shareholders yesterday in an attempt to root out the practice of using Thai nominee shareholders to maintain control over a company. More than 3,700 ‘foreign-owned’ businesses are registered in Phuket, explained Department of Business Development Phuket Office Chief Nimit Kangkajit back in 2013 when a similar investigation was backed…
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Marine Department to review life-jacket policy
PHUKET: The Marine Department is looking to review its strict policy for life-jacket use on tour boats, which requires all passengers to don the vests before the boat departs, confirmed Chula Sukmanop, director-general of the Marine Department. The tough enforcement of safety measures was put into effect in November last year (story here), after a speedboat driver crashed into a…
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Family of heat-stroke victim donates B200k to Vachira Phuket Hospital
PHUKET: The family of a senior Bangkok official who died from severe heat stroke after leaping into a Krabi hot spring in April has donated 200,000 baht to Vachira Phuket Hospital in honor of their loved one. Somkiat Phatkhun, the deputy director of the Training and Development Institute at the Office of the Attorney General in Bangkok, was on vacation…
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Kuwaiti tourist dies in Phuket bungy-jump accident
PHUKET: Police are investigating the death of a Kuwaiti tourist who was fatally injured in a bungy-jumping incident last night in Phuket. Abdullah Adel Kadhmbadman, 25, was rushed to Patong Hospital by a World Bungy Jump Patong employee. He was pronounced dead shortly after he arrived at the hospital. “The man who brought Mr Kadhmnbadman to the hospital first told…
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Headless turtle found on Mai Khao Beach
PHUKET: Experts at the Phuket Marine Biological Center (PMBC) in Cape Panwa are investigating the cause of death of a headless turtle that washed up on Mai Khao Beach this morning. Kusoldham Foundation rescue workers arrived at about 10:20am after receiving a call from a local villager who found the turtle and initially tried to bury it. “We believe the…
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Petrol tanker driver escapes death in crash with power pole
PHUKET: A man escaped almost certain death early this morning after his petrol tanker crashed into a car and then slammed into a high-voltage power pole, causing a fire and cutting the electricity supply for all of Phang Nga Town. “At Fai Tha junction in Phang Nga Town we found a six-wheeled petrol tanker on its side. It had slammed…
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Two men on motorbike killed in collision with Phuket tour bus
PHUKET: Two men on a motorbike were killed when they were hit and dragged by a tour bus on Thepkrasattri Road early this morning. The bodies of Thai national Somwang Chuaykamchu, 31, and Myanmar national Aung Myint, 32, were underneath the bus when police and Kusoldharm Foundation rescue workers arrived at the scene near the entrance of Thai Watsadu in…
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Police work to identify dead body found outside Phuket resort
PHUKET: Police are working to identify a man whose body was found near the Baan Krating Phuket Resort in Rawai on Saturday. “After we received the report at about 8:30pm, we went to the scene and found the body of an Arabic-looking man with a wound on his leg that resembled an animal bite,” said Lt Veerayut Thanyasiri Sukawarakul of…
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Blazing Saddles: Bicycling in Bangkok
PHUKET: I have long believed the bicycle represents something of a magical chariot with the ability to unleash serendipitous experiences at many turns. So it proved on my last visit to Bangkok, where I had flown to spend some time with my 22-year-old daughter, Olivia, who stopped there en route from Sydney to London. Now it’s probably no coincidence the…
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Thalang trounce Patong in Phuket cricket championship cup final
PHUKET: The Phuket Cricket Group Championship Cup Final was played on Sunday May 17 at the Alan Cooke Ground with the Thalang Cricket Team (TCT) taking their second consecutive title with a comprehensive 157 run win over the Patong Cricket Club. Both teams were boasting strong line-ups for the 100 over grand final, with David Thomas and Jean Matthee the…
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Phuket reporter dies in Surat Thani car crash
PHUKET: A local reporter for the Phuket Daily News and Siengtai newspaper was killed in a car crash in Surat Thani on Tuesday night. Amnuay Korbkum, 46, a well-known member of the Phuket Reporters Club, was travelling from Phuket to Surat Thani to visit his father in hospital when the accident occurred at about 9:50pm. “Panupong Sukaoon, Mr Amnuay’s brother-in-law,…
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Video Report: Suspects arrested for murder of Kalim man over alleged land dispute
PHUKET: Police have arrested three men for the murder of a 72-year-old Kalim resident on April 24. Eet Chaisit was shot multiple times while driving back from prayer at the local mosque to his home in Kalim, and later died in Patong Hospital (story here). Police first identified the driver of the motorcycle carrying Mr Eet’s shooter from CCTV footage…
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Two arrested for “mistaken identity’ attempted murder
PHUKET: Two men have been arrested for their roles in the attempted murder of a man in Thalang on May 13. Kordetch Sinto, 38, was shot in the back while he was sitting in front of his house (story here). Police originally thought that four suspects were involved but, following their investigation, they learned that only two men on one…
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Opinion: Breaking down Phuket food prices
Prakong Rukwong, 56, from Songkhla, is the chief of the Office of Commercial Affairs in Phuket. He graduated from Ramkhamhaeng University with a Bachelor’s degree in international economics, and also earned a Bachelor’s in law from Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University. From there, he continued on to earn a Master’s degree in economics at Chiang Mai University. Here, he talks about…
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Navy raids small, illegal Phuket beach operation
PHUKET: Navy officers led a raid on Nui Beach in Phuket yesterday, following an investigation into allegations of ‘mafia thugs’ illegally claiming the land and extorting beachgoers. In February, 46-year-old Chalothorn Chotianan, whose family claims ownership of the land, said that he was not aware of anyone trying to charge visitors for using the sands (story here). “Everything is fine.…
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BISP/JSA swim academy team racks up records, two members qualify for Olympic games
PHUKET: When the BISP / JSA Swim Academy at British International School Phuket first took to the pool in August 2013, the team had five international swimmers on scholarship, four swimmers from the school’s Flying Fish club team and high hopes. During the August to December 2014 swim season, the team’s nine swimmers (five girls and four boys) competed in…
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Phuket rescuers helpless as Swiss man dies in elevator shaft
PHUKET: Rescuers helplessly watched a Swiss national stuck in an elevator shaft in a Patong hotel die early this morning. “We think that the doors to the elevator opened up before the lift had arrived and that he stepped into the shaft, unaware that there wasn’t actually an elevator there,” said Maj Teerasak Boonsang of the Patong Police. “An employee…
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Opinion: NCPO battles Thai hydra of corruption
PHUKET: The National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) has taken swift action to show the European Union (EU) that it intends to do more to tackle the problem of illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing practices in Thailand and its territorial waters. Whether or not real order can be imposed within just six months on the huge hydra of…
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Angry woman makes bomb threat at Phuket airport
PHUKET: An angry passenger boarding a Thai Air Asia flight to Bangkok told employees that her bag had a bomb in it, after being forbidden from taking a water bottle on board this morning. All passengers on flight FD 3002* were evacuated, and the plane was moved to an emergency parking area for inspection, confirmed Monrudee Gettuphan, director of Phuket…
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Jet-skis wrangle more Patong sand space with new zones
PHUKET: Two jet-ski and parasailing zones and two swimming zones have been added to Patong Beach to fulfill the needs of tourists, Governor Nisit Jansomwong told the Phuket Gazette yesterday. When the zones were first established last year (story here), there were three swimming areas, each 500 meters wide and extending 150 meters offshore, and two jet-ski zones each about…
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Thailand U-23 squad mashes Myanmar
PHUKET: Thailand’s national football team’s under-23 squad enjoyed their warm-up match on Tuesday night against their arch rival Myanmar. The squad walked away from Ratchamangkala Stadium in Bangkok with a 4-0 win. In this friendly warm-up match, all four goals came in the second half after multiple chances to score were spoiled in the beginning of the game. Thailand made…
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Belgian-Thai local dominates at Annual King’s Cup
PHUKET: Phuket local James Van Herzeele, 12, dominated his age group in both singles and doubles categories at the Annual King’s Cup in Bangkok, a tournament held by the Lawn Tennis Association of Thailand. “When I played the championship point I felt so happy and relieved that I could achieve my goal to win this most important tournament of the…
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Start-up property portal prepares to “transform’ market
PHUKET: A start-up technology company created by the same team that built the LivePhuket real-estate company says it’s ready to ‘transform’ Thailand’s property market with a ‘data-driven’ property portal. The portal, launched in Phuket on April 24, provides instant and easy access to the largest selection of newly-built condominiums, all on a platform that aims to simplify the process of…
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Witness spots Phuket arson suspects
PHUKET: A witness told police that he saw two people set fire to a Phuket restaurant in the early hours of yesterday morning. “It was dark, so the witness wasn’t able to give us any details to help identify the suspects. However, he saw two people park a car a good distance from the restaurant and then return with cans…
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Finance: Investment ideals for new oil and gas realities
PHUKET: Late last year, legendary oil and gas entrepreneur Thomas Boone Pickens said during a CNBC interview: “Energy is cheap in America. We still have the cheapest energy in the world…Take advantage of it, play the demand side.” Since then, Pickens has repeatedly stated in public appearances that he believes oil will rise to US$70 a barrel this year and…
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Video Report: Phuket tsunami drill hailed as a success
PHUKET: A total of about 200 emergency-response officers and locals joined the full-scale tsunami evacuation drill at Koh Sireh, eastern coast of Phuket, on Tuesday. “Every department handled the rescue role-playing situations very well and acted appropriately. However, the locals seemed to be more uncomfortable, as this was their first time,” said Phuket Governor Nisit Jansomwong. The drill simulated a…
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